Well, excuse me, Princess
by throwaawy
Summary: He's the son of the world's greatest hero. She's royalty. Together, they fight crime!...actually no, not really. —Bumi x Ursa/Honora/Zuko'sDaughter— drabbles.
1. Road Trip

_**Disclaimer—**The Legend of Korra belongs to M. DiMartino and B. Konietzko. just pretend you see this line in every single chapter that follows this._

* * *

**Road Trip - **_121 ASC (After Sozin's Comet)_**  
**

* * *

He didn't want to go.

The South Pole was his home. He'd spent his whole life surrounded by snow, inconsistent daylight hours, and his older sister using him for her waterbending practice.

Actually now that he thought about it, hunting was awfully tiring, he was too small for the grownups to take him seriously as the warrior he knew himself to be, and Kya was just a big old meanie.

But for Bumi, it was _home_. And besides, where else could he go penguin sledding?

And now they wanted him to leave everything he'd ever known and move the family to some place in the Earth Kingdom.

Kya was trying to be the bossy know-it-all, saying things like, "It's for the balance of the world," or, "The old Fire Nation colonies need to know that the Avatar doesn't favor any one nation over another." It still didn't change the fact that he really, really didn't want to move.

It was during times like these that Bumi wished Tenzin was old enough to talk. Maybe then he'd be able to swing him onto his side and then they'd be able to outnumber Kya's vote.

**ooo**

Of course he should have realized this. His dad was The Avatar. There was no way they were just going to be able to move in to their new home. Not like normal people.

Of course, normal people didn't get to use a multi-ton sky bison to carry all their stuff, but that was beside the point.

But the worst part—the absolute most boring part imagineable—was the party. Not like a _normal_ party, but a _grownup _party. Oh they called it something fancy, like a "ceremony" or something, but Bumi knew it for what it was. A place where the grownups all stood in place and _talked_ with each other.

Even if they had the party at the Firelord's Palace, it was still boring. For one thing, there were no other kids around. Tenzin was being carried around by his mom, and Kya was off on the steps with some other girl. Okay, so there was _one_ other kid at this gathering that wasn't family. But it was a girl.

Bumi decided to wander off to see what else he could do. After filling up a bowl of that spicy-crunchy-flaky stuff first, though.

**ooo**

"What are you doing?"

Bumi peeked over his shoulder to see who had interrupted him and frowned. It was just that girl who'd been hanging out with his sister earlier. "Earthbending," he said. He picked up one of the many rocks he'd piled up along the side of the pond and flung it across the water. A grin snaked his way across face. _...Three... four... five skips! I am awesome!_

The girl frowned. "That's not earthbending, you're just throwing rocks." She marched up to him with a glare. "You haven't hurt any turtle-ducks have you? I'm telling Father if you did!"

Bumi matched her glare. She looked to be older than him by a bit, if her height was anything to go by; but she didn't look quite as old as Kya did. "First, the turtle-ducks are on _that_ side of the pond." And they'd stolen all of his bread too. The jerks. "Secondly," he said, hefting a new stone, "Rocks sink in water. I am bending them so they don't."

Another sweep of his arm and the stone skipped across the pond all the way to the opposite bank. "Therefore, I am earthbending," he concluded smugly.

She didn't look impressed, stooping down to pick up her own missile. "If skipping rocks makes you an earthbender then so am I." Twirling in place, she flung out her hand and sent the stone flying.

It sailed through the air in a shallow arc and landed in the middle of the pond with a dismal splash.

"Wahoo!" Bumi pumped a fist. "I win!"

"Win what?" She didn't turn around, still staring at the growing ripples her stone made.

"At... being an earthbender!"

"Well, I'm a firebender anyways so it's not like it's a real competition," she grumbled.

Bumi scowled. "...You're a firebender?"

She glanced at him over her shoulder. "What about it?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

"That's no fair!" Bumi exclaimed. "This game is for nonbenders only!"

She arched an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were an earthbender."

"I—" he paused, then jabbed his thumb into his chest. "—I am! And a waterbender too!" With that he crouched down and slapped his hand across the water, splashing himself and launching a small arc of water across the surface. He stood up with a grin, absently wiping his eyes clear. "How about tha—uh... "

She stood there glaring at him, arms fisted at her sides as she trembled in rage. Her face and hair dripped pondwater and the upper part of her crimson robes were soaked through. If he hadn't believed she was a firebender before, the literal steam rising from her ears would have clued him in.

He at least had the grace to look sheepish. "Oops?"

Faster than he could see, her hand whipped to the side as she slapped him.

**ooo**

He got scolded by Mom as they rode Appa from the Fire Nations Royal Palace towards Ba Sing Se, towards yet another ceremony thing.

"I can't believe you did that, Bumi!" Katara exclaimed. "I've half a mind to drop you off at Republic City early and leave you to the air acolytes for the rest of the trip!"

"As long as it means no more grownup parties," he grumbled softly under his breath.

Not softly enough it seemed, as he found his ear in a vice-like grip. "If we were still home, young man, I would _ground_ _you!_"

"Smooth, Bumi," Kya grinned as he wailed in pain. "Real smooth. Do you have any idea who she even was?"

"Does it matter?" he complained, trying to free himself.

"That was _Firelord Zuko's_ daughter. The crown-princess of the _entire _Fire Nation." His older sister chuckled. "I'd start working on an apology for the next time you meet her."

Bumi made a noncomittal noise and rubbed his ear as his mom finally released him. He scooted over to the back of the saddle and watched the fading lights of the palace recede into the darkness. _Well, excu~use me, Princess._

It occurred to him, then, that he'd never even gotten her name.

...

* * *

_(a/n) — i had something like this sorta stuck in my head. i dont thiiiink i have enough plot points to make a full on story so i'm just going to treat this as a series of writing-prompt.  
_

_i'm using the ones from the maikka fortnight 2012 prompts because, well... i like maikka. i like the idea of bumi and zuko's daughter. i think i'll wait to see what her actual name is before i 'name' the ship, although i personally find the 'honora' idea to be hilarious. let's see how far i can get and how normal i can get the narrative to sound without ever mentioning her name.  
_

_**edit:** i've added some date entries based on the avatar wiki's timeline of events. this is so i really can go back and forth across the timeline because sometimes i'm just no good at buildup so i'll take whatever shortcuts i can get _


	2. Wolf Tail

**Wolf Tail **_—_ _122 ASC_

* * *

Nearly a year later found Bumi accompanying his father on one of his routine meetings around the world. He liked to think of it as evidence of his growing maturity and recognition by his parents in regards to diplomacy.

It totally had nothing to do with a certain thousand-year old artifact the Air Acolytes had retrieved from one of the Air Temples, his older sister, ropes, and a lot of glue. Either way, given the choice of a severe scolding by his mother or one by his father, Bumi decided to trust the Avatar's impartiality.

The fact that Aang was just about to leave on one of his routine trips to check on the various lands and that he'd be able to escape from an angry Katara for a few days was just a coincidental bonus.

Which led to him happily dozing off in the shade of a tree in the wide gardens of the Fire Palace. All the important people were in a meeting with his father, so there was nobody else around to bug him. Peaceful.

"What _is_ that thing eating your head?" Or not.

Bumi opened his eyes to find a familiar figure leaning over him. She was dressed in a loose-fitting tunic and leggings combination, rather than the heavy robes he'd last seen her wearing. He also noticed her hair had been pulled into twin pigtail buns atop her head—rather than the single large bun she'd worn with the robes—held in place with a pair of hairsticks. Her head was tilting this way and that as she first stared at his face, then flicked her eyes upwards.

He raised his hand up defensively, automatically. "What, this?" He tugged at the loose strands hanging behind his head. "This is warrior's wolf tail."

"It looks like a rooster-pig decided to feast on your brains and died of malnutrition."

"Oh yeah? Well... " he spun around and leveled a finger at her. "...well _your_ hair looks like... a mouse-snake's!" He flapped his hands to mimic the locations of her buns.

If anyone in the world had developed the means to firebend through their eyes, Bumi would have been their first victim. She grabbed at her own hair defensively. "My mother made these for me. This was her favorite hairstyle when she was younger."

"Well, don't rag on my hair and I won't say anything about yours." He lowered his hands behind his head and closed his eyes again. "Now if you were done intruding... "

"This is _my_ home. You're the one whose intruding," she pointed out, clearly offended by the casual dismissal. "Although... I did come here looking for you," she admitted.

He cracked an eye open at her tone. "Oh?" His eyes opened fully as she brought her hand in front of his face, displaying a small flat stone in her palm.

"I want you to show me how you were skipping the rocks across the pond. If you do that, I might consider forgiving your previous insolence."

He mulled it over, then shrugged. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. "Why does an Imperial Princess and a firebender need to know how to chuck rocks like the lowliest Earth Kingdom peasant?"

Her eyes narrowed, both at his phrasing and his irreverent tone. "If you must know, while my father is overseeing my bending training, my mother has also offered to train me in her own specialities."

He was already well down the path towards the pond, having made his way while she spoke. "What sort of stuff does your mom do?" he called over his shoulder. There was a rush of air as something flew past him and he dropped to the ground reflexively. He lifted his head from his undignified sprawl to spit her with a glare as she tittered and walked down the path.

"Mother," she said, "is quite gifted with throwing knives." She walked past him and to a tree along the side of the path, pulling out a thin stick planted into the side of the trunk. Her hairstick, Bumi suddenly realized.

"She's been training me with darts and similar weapons, as you can see," the Princess said as she spun on her heel, "but she said I lack the proper wrist control for some of her other weapons like shurikens and double-ended throwing daggers." Her eyes narrowed on his. "She thought _you_ might be able to help me with that and commented on your actions earlier this yea—what is so funny?"

Bumi struggled to stop giggling, but only managed to snort in amusement. "It's... I'm sorry but you... it's just... " He rose to a sitting position and pointed at her head while trying to avoid breaking into outright laughter. "Nice hair, Princess," he finally managed.

Her eyes widened as she realized what she might look like, one half of her hair tied into a neat bun, the other half spilling just past her shoulders. Her face went red as she confirmed that fact with her hands, then she pulled out her other hairstick and bounced it off his forehead.

"Ow!"

...


	3. Assassin

**Assassin**_ — 126 ASC**  
**_

* * *

The door was thrown open with a loud bang. As the room's only occupant spun around, throwing dagger in hand, a young man dived through the entryway and tumbled across the floor. Momentum took him into a nearby table where he crashed into an ungraceful heap.

As a low, familiar sounding groan sounded from the sprawled body, the occupant turned back to the room's entrance where she found her mother dusting her hands.

"You, stay put," Fire Lady Mai ordered her. She turned her head towards the boy now rising unsteadily to his feet. "You, keep her from getting bored and don't let her leave this room. We'll come back for you once we've determined everything is safe." With that she backed out and slammed the door closed. There was the faint metallic _click_ of a lock and then, silence.

Bumi shook his head, then cheerfully waved a hand. "Hello again, Princess."

The Fire Lord's daughter slowly lowered her hand, her dagger disappearing back up her sleeve. She sighed, "Hello again... Peasant."

**ooo**

"So... I don't suppose you know what's going on?" he looked sheepish. "I mean, one moment I'm on another routine trip with Dad, then when we arrive the whole palace is like an angry nest of buzzard-wasps. Dad runs off with a few guards and suddenly I get thrown in here with you."

"I don't know," she bit out, spitting him with a glare. "Nobody will tell me _anything_."

He leaned back, raising his hands placatingly, "I mean, it's not to say being with you is a _bad_ thing, but I didn't exactly... well I mean I... please don't hit me."

She brought her legs up to curl against her chest, ducking her head behind her arms. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I mean that in the past it always seems like I make you mad a lot and you... act on that. Violently. And right now you've got a really _angry_ look."

She didn't dignify that with an answer. Bumi settled for examining his chosen couch and looking around the room. After a few moments, he turned his attention back to her.

"Your hair's not in your little mouse-snake buns anymore," he commented.

"I didn't have the time," she replied curtly. "I've only been awake for about an hour, when a palace guard barged into my room to make sure I was alright."

"Ah, I see." He glanced towards the door, as if anticipating one of those guards popping in and freeing him from the oppressive atmosphere. Suddenly he twitched. "Wait, your room."

"Yes."

"We're... in _your room_."

"Your ability to state the obvious remains undiminished, I assure you."

_"Why am I in your room?"_

"Because my mother thought it was a good idea and until I can figure out _why_ then I can't come up with a good excuse to throw you out." She lifted her head and Bumi suddenly noticed that her eyes looked somewhat raw, like she was on the verge of tears.

"You've got an idea," he said, "of why they're acting like this?"

She lowered her head again and nodded. "There were drills," she said quietly. "To prepare us for certain... situations. Like if—"

Both of them lifted their heads as someone pounded on the door. _"Bumi? Are you in there?"_

He shot to his feet and was pressing his head to the door in a heartbeat. "Dad?"

_"Yeah, it's me,"_ the Avatar confirmed. _"Is the Princess in there with you?"_

Bumi glanced back and found the girl standing behind him with an uncertain-looking expression on her face. "Uh, yeah... she is. Dad what's going on?"

_"There was an assassination attempt on Zuko,"_ Aang said grimly. There was a horrified gasp from behind Bumi. _"Just stay there for now until we get everything sorted out."_

"My father!" the Princess exclaimed, rushing forward to press her hands to the door. "Is he alright?"

_"Eh? Well, yeah, Zuko's perfectly capable of taking care of himself!"_ Bumi could almost hear the proud grin in his father's voice. _"But the palace is going nuts trying to see if the guy had any accomplices, so stick tight. We'll come for you once we've cleared everything, okay?"_

Bumi looked over at his companion, but she'd slowly walked back to the closest couch—the one he'd been sitting on—and collapsed bonelessly onto the cushions. He shrugged and turned back towards the door. "Okay, we got it."

_"Don't open the door for anyone but myself or the Fire Lady alright? Well... Mai's got a key, but the point stands! I'll be back later; love you, son!"_

"You too, Dad."

**ooo**

He turned and walked back into the room. He was a bit unsure if he should take the couch back, but considering the only other piece of sitting furniture was the Princess's bed...

He decided the couch was less likely to get him killed, but sat on the opposite side just to be on the safe side.

She didn't look up even as the cushions shifted. She'd curled in on herself again, but otherwise made no sounds or movements.

Bumi coughed into his hand to break the silence. "Er, I'm sure your dad is fine."

Her fingers tightened against her arms.

"I mean, he's the Fire Lord right? He's like the strongest firebender in the world! ...Except for my dad, of course."

Her shoulders might have trembled slightly, he wasn't sure.

He looked away and scratched his head nervously. "And... you have a _lot_ of guards... and your mom... and my dad. I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of this in no time."

Silence.

"You know, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm trying to cheer you up or whatever. But I'm not so good at this reassurance thing so you gotta give me a sign that I'm doing this correctly—"

He suddenly felt an impact against his shoulder and tensed, wincing in anticipation. After a few moments he noticed the pressure against his side hadn't removed itself so he cautiously cracked an eye open and looked down. "Eh... you're not gonna hit me again are you?"

"Shut up." She was sprawled against his chest, burying her head into his shoulder. Her arms were locked around his torso in a deathgrip.

He kept himself still out of sheer panic. Long seconds passed and his life flashed before his eyes, waiting for the final blow. He wasn't kidding when he'd said he had a tendency to trigger violent reactions from her. So far over the years he'd been slapped, punched, kicked, sliced, (lightly) burned, and some of his clothes had rips and tears from where she'd pinned him against a tree or a wall.

He realized he'd never actually been stabbed yet and now he wondered if this was the time he'd finally feel what a knife between the ribs felt like.

"I feel useless."

He blinked and looked back down, noticing her body was shaking slightly. "Huh?"

"If I was just a bit stronger, I'd be out there helping find my father's attackers. I'd be striking the fear of death into his enemies so that they wouldn't even _think_ of attempting something like this because they'd know they would have to come through _me_ first."

Her hands tightened against his back. "I wouldn't be locked in my room like some frail little girl scared for her daddy, using a water tribe peasant for comfort."

"Er..." He looked down with a sheepish grin. "...sorry?" He felt the room's temperature rise and he blamed it on the fact that he was in the Fire Palace. Or the fact that the royal princess, a firebender herself, was probably two steps away from giving him hell.

Finally she looked up and he stared into piercing gold eyes, shimmering slightly in the light. They were still red-rimmed and her hair was still messy from her interrupted sleep and she was scowling at him.

He was _not_ blushing. He wasn't.

She closed her eyes briefly to recenter herself before continuing to glare at him. "I should think this obvious, but you are _not _going to repeat today's events to _anyone_."

He quickly raised a hand, "I swear it on the Avatar's honor."

She held his gaze for a few moments then lowered her head back into his chest. They were quiet for several long minutes.

"I noticed your hair isn't in that ridiculous-looking wolf tail anymore," she commented.

"I think I lost my hair tie somewhere on Appa's saddle while we were—wait, it is _not_ ridiculous!" he sputtered.

...


	4. Long Distance

**Long Distance **_— 127 ASC  
_

* * *

"Hey Bumi, wake up."

"Mrrggggh."

"Come on, Little Bro."

"Five more minutes..."

There was a sigh, the sound of footsteps retreating from the room, and Bumi settled back under his blankets with a happy grumble. After a few moments, however, the footsteps returned accompanied by a faint scraping noise of cable over stone flooring. There was a _click_ of a switch being thrown...

_Secret Tunneeeel~! Secret Tunneeeeel~!  
Through the mountain~!  
Secret, secret, secret—_

"Alright, I'm up!" Bumi catapulted into a sitting position and glared at the intruder. Kya stood there with a smirk, holding up the radio she'd brought over from her room.

"Are you sure you're awake?" she asked lightly. "If you're not sure, Republic Radio is holding a "Greatest Hits of Chong's Lilies" marathon all day~" She lifted her hand back up to the power switch.

"I'm up!" Bumi repeated frantically. He scowled at his older sister's beaming face. "Damned hippie," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. What's the big idea anyhow?"

"Dad and Tenzin are coming back from their training trip," she said, tucking the radio underneath her arm. Her voice took on a melodic lilt, "And they're bringing a vi-si-tor~"

Bumi blinked his eyes sleepily. "Huh?"

**ooo**

Bumi's mouth hung open as he leveled a finger, "...Huh?"

The visitor dismounted from Appa gracefully and caught a medium-sized travel bag that was tossed down to her. "Thank you, Tenzin," she called up to the saddle. As she slipped the strap over her shoulder she turned towards the head of the sky-bison and dipped forward into a relatively shallow Fire Nation bow. "Thank you for the smooth ride, Avatar Aang, as well as your hospitality."

"You're welcome, Your Highness," the Aang replied, matched her bow. "I'm always happy for the chance to show the progress Republic City has made in the last few years."

Their newest guest turned towards the rest of the welcoming party and bowed once more. "Master Katara."

Katara didn't bow, but she did let a maternal smile grow on her face. "I hope the trip wasn't too exhausting? Aang can sometimes be... a bit reckless with his passengers."

"Hey!"

The princess turned towards Kya and repeated her greeting, "Kya. How goes your training?"

The other girl grinned. "Not bad, even if Mom won't teach me some of the more advanced stuff yet. Even though I'm almost as old as she was during the The War!" she said that last part with a mock glare towards Katara, who merely rolled her eyes at the familiar complaint.

Finally she turned towards Bumi, who was still frozen with an incredulous expression on his face and his hand pointed directly at her face. She smirked.

"Hello, P—" her eyes flickered briefly towards Katara. "...Bumi," she finished.

Bumi shot a pleading glance towards his sister, only for it to morph into one of betrayal as she turned away laughing into her sleeve.

**ooo**

"So what brings you all the way to Republic City?" Bumi asked politely. He had been volunteered to show the princess to her guest quarters after Tenzin had wandered off to practice his airbending—that kid was way too serious about his training. Kya had gone off with his mother to help prepare dinner and the Avatar had taken off to the mainland for a meeting with the council.

"Officially: as a representative of the Fire Nation to ensure that the Avatar's great experiment is still proceeding smoothly and without any of the problems that plagued the former Colonies and the Harmony Restoration Movement," the Princess replied. She grimaced. "Unofficially: to keep me safe and out of the way while Father and his most trusted advisors clean house."

He made a face. "I thought that was over and done with."

"Not quite," she sighed. "There were two more attempts over the last year, both caught almost before they had even been started. It was enough for my father to decide to take on a more proactive approach. I don't think anybody outside the Palace other than your own father is even aware of it."

Bumi made a noncommittal noise which seemed to end the conversation until they turned into a hallway flanked by sliding doors. "Here we are: guest quarters," he announced. He made sure to slide one door open by the wooden frame, his mom would give him fits if he shredded yet another set of fragile rice-paper screens.

Although the last time it'd happened had been more Tenzin's fault than his own; how was _he_ to know that an air-scooter generated enough pressure to rip the screens from their mountings? Clearly his little brother should have known better himself and not chased him down the hallway, no matter _how_ angry he was that Bumi had run the same prank on him using the same airbending gates that he'd pulled on his sister all those years ago.

"It's a bit small, but I guess this will be sufficient," his guest concluded, bringing his attention back to the present. She had moved past him to scan the room he'd helped the Air Acolytes clean out and tossed her traveling pack into the corner where a bedroll had been laid out. Finished with her survey, she turned towards him with an expectant look.

"Right," he coughed into a fist. "So, dinner's normally in a few hours but they started preparing a meal early in case you needed something after your trip." He pointed towards one end of the hallway, then the other. "The docks are thataway, a ferry runs to the mainland and back twice per day if you felt like visiting the city itself. The dining hall and the quarters for the rest of the family and acolytes are this way." He lifted an eyebrow, "Anything else you might need, Princess?"

She sighed. "I didn't come here for relaxation, but I guess a visit to the city can wait until tomorrow. What do you do around here to pass the time?"

"Well, Tenzin and Kya's time is mostly spent training with my parents. The Order of the White Lotus maintains a small outpost here—'to protect the last remnants of Air Nomad culture' and such; sometimes I'll visit them and play a few games of chances or listen to the radio. Republic City has started some weird arena-games, I think you might like them."

She crossed her arms in disapproval. "So you don't do anything but play games and loiter around?" she summarized. "Don't you train in... anything?"

He rubbed his head sheepishly. "We~ll... Uncle Sokka—that's probably Councilman Sokka to you—showed me how to use a boomerang a while back so I've got a small range set up. He promised he'd teach me the sword when I was older, or at least point any teachers he knew my way. But that's probably not for a while, maybe when I'm as old as _he_ was during the war."

"A target range?" He didn't like the way her eyes lit up, nor the narrow grin that slashed across her face as she turned towards him. "Show me."

**ooo**

"It's not much," he said with a wave of his hand, "but it works."

She hummed, throwing a critical eye around the field. There were only three targets set up, at varying distances and heights. They were situated on wooden frames that held the targets away from themselves to allow a boomerang to strike them and continue on its flight. The farthest one stood fifteen meters away. She frowned, _That's just about the limits for as far as I can throw and still reliably hit on-target._

She toed the marker that indicated the throwing position and glanced back at him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the range of a boomerang was a little bit farther than this."

He shrugged, "I'm still learning. It's not as easy as it looks, you know. And at least it's farther than your little knives can go."

She raised an eyebrow, "Are you questioning my abilities?"

He raised his hands placatingly, "I'm just saying, Princess, boomerangs and knives are just different types of weapons."

She eyed the distance thoughtfully. "Well, you may be right about darts, but for shurikens and stilettos..." She gave him a flat look. "By the way, I _do_ have a name you know, not just a title. It means a lot to my Father so I'd appreciate it if you used it."

He answered her with a lopsided smile and hefted blue-tinted curve of metal in one hand. "I'll take that into consideration, _Princess_. In the mean time, would you care to place a wager?"

She glared at him. "You must have been dropped on your head when you were a child, _Peasant_. What are your terms?"

"Well," he waved his arms at the targets. "We take turns hitting the targets. Three throws for each one, nine attempts total. Whoever has the most hits at the end wins."

She thought it over, then fought to keep a smug grin from her face as an idea occurred to her. She shrugged. "Very well. If I win, you must address me properly by my given name."

"Alright," he accepted her terms with a stiff nod. "But, if I win, then... " he frowned for a few moments then snapped his fingers. "If I win then I get one guaranteed favor from you. Redeemable at any time I want, be it now or in the future."

"That..." she blinked, "that's hardly an equal trade."

"You can make yours the same deal then," he replied. "If you want to burn it on ordering me to call you by name, go ahead."

"Fine," she bit out, trying to hide the grin threatening to appear on her face as she went back over her plan. She began to rummage through a small pouch at her side and brought out a bandolier of single-bladed throwing knives. "Shall I start us off?"

He gave her a mocking Earth Kingdom-styled bow. "Ladies first."

She stepped back to the line with her hands loosely at her side, her off-hand holding the bandolier. She quickly ran through the mental checklist her mother had drilled into her, checking the targets—how they swung from their frames in the wind, matching that to the feeling of the wind on her face, eyeballing their distance and comparing them to what she knew of their sizes from her earlier inspection.

Then, with a twist she brought her hand across her body, brushing it across the sheathed knives, and flinging her arm out in a backhanded arc.

There was a pair of _thunks_ as the two closer targets were knocked back, swinging along their ropes as crimson shafts sprouted on their surfaces. The third, farthest one, remained still and she mentally cursed as she realized her final dagger had fallen short.

"Huh," an impressed voice sounded beside her and she finally let a smirk grow on her face.

"You did say up to three _throws_ per target," she reminded Bumi in a playful tone. "But you never said how many weapons we could use at once.  
"That counts as 'one throw'. I made two hits and I believe I still have two more attempts to make for this target."

Bumi was silent as he stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She was laughing inside as she made her second and third attempts in much the same manner, flinging out a knife for each target with each throw. She finally succeeded in hitting the farthest target on her third attempt for a score of seven hits. Her smile grew as he turned towards her, stone-faced at her impressive performance.

"That," he finally said, "was the most devious, most blatant abuse of 'exact wording' I have ever seen. I'm surprised, coming from you."

"Thank you," she said smugly, moving off to retrieve her weapons.

He shook his head and took his place as she walked back to a safe distance behind him. In contrast to her own mental checklist and preparation, he merely held out his boomerang at the closest target to sight it, then angled it off to the side and launched it with a basic over-arm throw. It arced through the air wide of the targets before it began its return trip.

Then she had to fight to keep her jaw from dropping as the boomerang's path took it straight through each target sequentially before dropping into his waiting hand. He tapped the weapon against his other palm with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hmm, looks like a certain Princess forgot to take into consideration that this might not be the first time a certain Peasant has used this practice range, and in fact may have even set up the targets in such a way for his training."

He twirled around with a manic grin. "I meant what I said though, I'm surprised you were thinking pretty much the same thing I was. That's kind of neat." He switched to tapping the boomerang against his shoulder as he leaned forward. "I've still got two more throws, _Princess_. Eight more if we want to play this game to it's fullest. Shall we continue?"

She could feel her face heating up as she eyed him with every ounce of hatred she could muster in the hopes that he would spontaneously combust. He must not have seen it that way because he began chuckling and shaking his head even as she gave him her best death-glare.

_I hate this boy_, she seethed.

She insisted they play out the contest to its conclusion. She threw everything she had into her remaining attempts and managed to get a final total of twenty-three hits.

He got a full twenty-seven.

She was _not _impressed with his skill.

Not even a little...

...

_...Okay maybe just a __**tiny**__ bit._

...

* * *

_(a/n)—probably not what the prompt meant by 'long distance' but then again, maybe it is! *shrug* R/R please_


	5. Concealed Weapon

**Concealed Weapon **_— 131 ASC_

* * *

She was polishing her weapons after the day's practice when she heard footsteps pausing just outside of her door. She wasn't expecting any visitors and they were too light for a palace guard, so she rose to her feet as quietly as she could and prepared herself. The moment the intruder pushed open the door, he was greeted with a knife between the eyes.

Fortunately the sharp, pointy instrument of death was not actually airborne and she quickly caught herself before she finished her strike. Her eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the intruder.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. She poked her head over his shoulder to scan the hallway. "_How_ did you get here, Bumi? I haven't heard anything about the Avatar visiting!"

"I did it!" Bumi said excitedly. Perspiration dotted his face and he was breathing heavily, as if he'd just run a great distance. "I signed up!"

Shaking her head, the princess backed out of the doorway to allow him passage, closing it once he was inside. "Does my father know you're in the palace?"

He suddenly seemed to remember where he was, his face taking on a sheepish look. "Um, maybe? I know the guards recognized me since they let me through without any troubles."

She immediately made a mental note to have the guards replaced.

She pinched her nose in an attempt to ward off her growing headache. "Alright, alright... backing up a bit. You signed up? Signed up for wha—" She snapped her head up. "Bumi you signed up for the Fire Nation Home Guard?!"

"Well, not _exactly_," he said. "I heard from my dad a while back, that specific unit is actually scheduled to be handed over to the United Republic to form the core of their own military forces in roughly a year. I figured if I joined them and established myself now, then I'd have better chances of a promotion than if I'd joined the United Forces directly after their own formation."

"That... that's the stupidest thing I think you've ever done," she mulled. "And you've done some pretty idiotic things over the years. What were you thinking? You're not even a bender! You'll be put in the _infantry!_" She left unsaid that he'd most likely be positioned as cannon-fodder.

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But—"

"Does your family know you're doing this?"

"Actually, yeah," he admitted. "Mom was totally against it, but Dad said it was up to me. Aaaaand Uncle Sokka actually made me a sword! He had it forged and delivered just before I left Republic City." He reached over his back and unstrapped a short sword—her own weapons training let her recognize it as a _jian_—and presented her with the blade and sheath.

"I call it...'Swordy'!" he exclaimed.

Spirits, he actually sounded _proud_ of the name...

"Why?" she asked. "What's wrong with your life as it is that you have to join the military?"

He made a show of thinking about it. "Let's see... my dad's the Avatar, saving the world, bringing balance, all that stuff. My mom and my sister are the best healer and best soon-to-be-healers in the world. My little brother is training to reestablish a lost culture and a dying art. _You _are in line to become the leader of one of the four major powers in the world." He posted his hands on his hips and gave her a lopsided grin. "I'd say I have to pull my own weight somehow."

"It's not a competition." She found herself reflexively squeezing her hands, the motion transmitting itself to her forearm holsters and dropping a knife into her palm. She quickly sent it back up her sleeve with a flick of her wrist. "You and your family have done plenty for the world, you've got nothing to prove."

Bumi's face had lost some of his cheer. "I would beg to differ. People look at you and see the next Fire Lord. They see my siblings as great bending masters-to-be. They look at me and pity the poor Avatar's son who's a nonbender and can't help his family out with anything."

Her knife dropped back into her hand. She shoved it back. "I thought you were the world's greatest earthbender, capable of keeping rocks from sinking in garden ponds," she said quietly.

"Wow, you still remember that?" He threw out his chest proudly. "I stand corrected, the World's Greatest (well, maybe second greatest, Auntie Toph would kill me otherwise) Earthbender needs to make his mark on the world, and I figured this would be the best way to do it."

"It's not all fun and games," she snapped. This was infuriating, she didn't even know why this was bothering her so much. "We may not be at war right now, but there are still pockets of rebels and misguided loyalists who don't appreciate how the world is." The knife dropped into her hand once more but this time she let it fall until the handle was in her grasp. "The military isn't just a social club, you could actually _die!_"

She didn't even realize she'd thrown the dagger until Bumi straightened out of the combat crouch he'd dropped into. The hilt of the knife was shaking slightly in the door behind him, then fell out as a pair of Imperial Firebender Guards burst into her room, responding to her sudden shout. One immediately tackled Bumi to the floor while the other stepped in front of her protectively, spinning around to aim his hands at the young man.

"Stop!" she ordered. She quickly composed herself and glared at the guards. "Stop... I'm in no danger. The _Avatar's _son," she stressed, "and I were merely discussing our respective weapon specialties and I decided to put on a demonstration for him. I'm fine."

One of the skull-faced helmets inclined its head in suspicion. "Princess?"

"Release him," she ordered. She waved her hand towards the door. "Could one of you could retrieve my blade for me? I believe I've succeeded in making my point for our guest."

The two guardsmen released Bumi and snapped into a bow. One gave him a hand up while the other returned her dagger to her waiting hand. With their tasks complete, they moved back outside.

"By the way Princess," one guard paused at the door frame. "The Fire Lady wishes to remind you that dinner will be served within the hour."

"I'll be there," she confirmed. She waited several moments after both of the guards had left, then collapsed onto her couch and dropped her head into her hands. She felt more than saw Bumi sit down on the opposite end.

"The 'We were practicing a fighting maneuver' excuse, huh? Classic..." His chuckles trailed off and fell silent; he was blessedly quiet for several long minutes. Peeking out from between her hands, she saw him slouching against the cushions, looking just as mentally exhausted as she felt.

"..."

"..."

"I'm not going to die," he said at last.

"You don't know that," she said to her hands.

"I know," he said confidently. "After all, I shouldn't give the future Fire Lord any reason to worry. It seems to be bad form around here."

Her head shot up, "I'm not worried!"

He didn't raise his head from the back of the couch, but he lifted an eyebrow at her. "Is that right?"

"It is. I'm not." She glared at him. "Because even you aren't stupid enough to get yourself killed by an untrained rebel."

"Even though I'm not a bender?" he mused.

"You're the Avatar's son," she replied. In spite of herself, she found herself amused at how their roles in the conversation seemed to have flipped around. She nodded towards the sword leaning against his leg. "I assume you can take care of yourself if it becomes necessary."

He grinned proudly, "I may know a trick or two."

She chewed on her lip for a few moments, then pulled her sleeve up to reveal her forearm holster. "It doesn't hurt to keep a third trick in reserve," she said.

"Huh?" He glanced over, his eyes widening as he watched her unstrapping the accessory from her arm and folding it carefully. "Uhh...?"

She held it out stiffly in his direction, staring resolutely at the wall. "Take it."

He cautiously accepted the small bundle from her hand. "You sure you want me to have this?"

"It—it's not like I'm giving this away _for_ you, I... just figured if you have one thing to stab people with, it's better to have two." She winced and fought to keep her voice even. She could _not_ believe she just said that.

She turned towards him, then flushed as she suddenly noticed he still had her hand in one of his own. "J—just think of it as a generic good-luck charm. That you can stab people with. You know, in case you need to. Stab people, that is."

He grinned and ran a thumb over her fingers. "I'll keep that in mind, Princess."

She slumped at the moniker even as her face bloomed at the contact. "I hate you so much," she grumbled.

**ooo**

"Are you alright?" Fire Lady Mai frowned as her daughter shuffled into the dining hall. Nearly a quarter-hour late, that was highly unusual for the normally punctual girl.

"I'm fine, Mother," she replied. She moved to her chair, bowing both to her and to her father before taking her seat. "Just a bit tired."

"And where have you been, Young Lady?" Zuko demanded. "I had a report from the Palace Guards about a disturbance earlier."

"Oh, that," she continued with her table preparations, settling a napkin over her lap as a servant placed a filled plate in front of her. "Ah, well, I was with Bumi. Apparently he enlisted with the local Guard."

"Did he now...?" Zuko narrowed his eye—his good eye, the other one was always narrowed.

The princess thought for a moment, then let a wicked grin cross her face. "Oh yes," she said airily. "As you might have heard from the guards, we had a discussion about hidden weapons. He wanted to show me his."

Mai arched an eyebrow, "His... _hidden weapon?_"

"Oh yes, well, he wanted to introduce me to his 'Swordy'. He was quite excited about it."

She nonchalantly spooned out a portion of her soup. _Three, two, one..._

Zuko slammed his hands against the table. "He. Did. **_WHAT?!_**"

...

* * *

_(a/n)—__i've added some date entries based on the avatar wiki's timeline of events to the previous chapters as well as this one. this is so i really can go back and forth across the timeline because sometimes i'm just no good at buildup so i'll take whatever shortcuts i can get._

___although i built some stuff in the middle there, i mostly wrote this prompt based off of this piece of art **(************tinyurl dot com /9suvtcu**) by viria13. bottom left area. you'll know it when you see it =)  
_


	6. Catch

**Catch **_—122 ASC_

* * *

This was _unreal_.

Jaw hanging loosely, Bumi took in the ridiculously large crowd scattered throughout the room. Nearly everyone he could see was an adult, probably officials of some kind. A bending troupe had setup on a stage to one end of the room, drawing attention with a flashy display of fire, sparkling rocks, and animated ice sculptures. An orchestra had setup on the other side, playing music more suitable for ballroom dancing than for what he'd thought he was attending.

A birthday party.

Growing up in the south pole, he recalled his and Kya's birthdays to be relatively quiet affairs. Mostly it was an excuse for the birthday boy or girl to be relieved of their chores; then a few of their friends would drop on by with well wishes and gifts, as well as take advantage of the extra-large dinner his mom would prepare. When they'd moved north to Republic City, birthdays became a bit more lively due to the greater variety of friends at their new schools.

But this... if _this _was an example of how the Fire Nation always threw parties, he was glad he didn't grow up here. This was another _grownup_ party. It was _boring._ He turned and tugged on the yellow sleeve beside him and turned his head up pleadingly. "Dad, can we go yet?"

Aang turned away from his conversation partner and simply smiled at him. He patted his head, "Not now, Bumi. If you're bored why don't you go find your sister?" Not even waiting for a response, the Avatar turned his attention back to the man opposite him.

Bumi rolled his eyes and began wandering the crowd. He'd often heard stories from Mom about how Dad had been super fun when he was younger. Seeing him now he had difficulty believing what he'd been told, even if Uncle Sokka had told him the same stories.

He saw a flash of blue at the opposite end of a cluster of grownups. Carefully navigating his way around the group, he found Kya opposite a trio of girls that dressed similarly enough with each other that he assumed they were friends or schoolmates. As his sister and one of the girls traded comments with each other, the other two hid their faces behind their sleeves and tittered. He noticed Kya was wearing a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes.

He frowned and began to shove his way through the crowd faster.

**ooo**

This was _stupid_.

Jaw tightening so that she wouldn't be grinding her teeth, the Princess and heir to the throne took in the ridiculously large crowd scattered throughout the room. Ministers and officials from every island across the Fire Nation gathered here, ostensibly to wish her a happy birthday.

She didn't know a single one's face.

There may have been parties like this in the past, but she wasn't sure. Up until now she'd always spent her birthdays with her mother who generally eschewed public events as a matter of principle, leaving her father to deal with the masses. This year she had finally given in to the suggestion that she actually attend a party held in her honor.

So far she was not impressed.

Several ministers had already introduced their own children to her, assuring that they would make _great_ friends. A few had offered her their allegiance and help her assume the throne much sooner than she was ready to. She made a point to memorize their names and faces and pass them along to the Guard.

All these people, every last one of them, were only here with the hopes of getting on the good side of the Fire Lord—either directly or through her. She wasn't naive enough to not understand the necessity of it—she _was_ next in line for the throne—but she would have hoped her lessons in politics could have occurred later in life. Much later.

Honestly, a young girl should be able to enjoy her own birthday party... as _just_ a birthday party!

When she saw the red and gold robes of the Avatar milling around she almost stopped to talk to him. Surely he wouldn't feel like he had to suck up to her father. He'd either treat her as a child, or at least with genuine politeness. Then her next thought was to wonder if he'd brought his family along with him, so she began to scan the crowd for anyone not wearing Fire Nation Red.

When she found them, she let a slight smile grow on her face, only to still when she saw their company. The waterbender (Kya, if she recalled correctly) was holding her brother (whose name she couldn't remember for the life of her) back from physically assaulting a trio of girls she vaguely recognized from the Royal Fire Academy.

"Is there a problem?" she asked mildly as she stepped into view.

"Princess!" The three academy girls immediately dipped into a bow as their leader spoke up. "Your apologies for this unseemly display, but these uncultured peasants don't seem to know the proper etiquette for addressing their betters."

She held back a sigh as she ran a critical eye over the Avatar's children. Kya's face was unreadable, a good skill to have, but her brother was quite obviously upset. She turned back towards the trio and found their leader trying to hide a smirk. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention." She waved her hand in a dismissal, "You three may go. I will deal with these two myself."

The other girl hesitated, not wanting to leave the princess's presence but unable to word a polite refusal. She bowed once more and backed away, "As you wish, Your Highness."

She kept her face impassive as she was left alone with the two siblings who kept silent as well, though it looked like the boy really wanted to speak out. Finally she let a small smile grow on her face as she turned her attention on him. "My, you tend to cause a scene, don't you? Now I see why you normally isolate yourself from gatherings like this."

"We apologize, Your Highness," Kya said, gripping her brother's shoulder to keep him from speaking. "We seem to have offended your friends."

She waved her hand flippantly. "They weren't friends, we just happen to go to the same Academy. All the daughters of nobles within a certain age group know each other."

"They're jerks," the boy said suddenly. "The things they said about Kya..." he cut himself off as his sister tightened her grip again. "What? They are!"

She couldn't help it. She giggled at his obvious ill temper, though she hid it behind her sleeve. "You really do have the manners of a... what did they call you?" She tapped her finger against her chin for a moment. "Ah, yes, a _peasant_. That fits you perfectly."

"Hey!"

The princess smiled at him. "I never said that was a bad thing." She waved her hand behind her to take in the rest of the... party. "It's almost refreshing. Everybody here is being so _polite_ and _servile_ it's almost irritating." She turned towards the waterbender, "So how have you been, Kya? Your father is wandering around but I haven't yet seen your mother; how is she?"

"She's well, your highness," Kya replied, finally relaxing. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded handkerchief. "Happy birthday."

She accepted the cloth with a curious air, unfolding it to reveal a small bracelet made from pieces of seashells. Charming, but not really her style. Still, she made sure to make an approving noise, "Thank you." She refolded the cloth and tucked it into one of her own pockets.

Kya elbowed her brother in the side and he straightened from a slouch with a protest. He reached to his belt and untied a small pouch, then simply tossed it out. "Here you go, Princess. Happy birthday."

She snatched it out of the air, giving him an arch look as she did so. Undoing the drawstring, she opened the pouch and withdrew a round, flat stone. Not even a gemstone, just a plain, solid rock that looked like it had been picked up from a riverbed.

What.

"Um... thank... you?" She eyed it dubiously, then chanced a glance at the peasant boy to make sure he wasn't making fun of her.

He wasn't, in fact he actually looked somewhat chagrined. "I'm not too good with presents," he muttered.

"He really isn't" Kya mumbled apologetically.

The princess rubbed her fingers over the stone, feeling indentations on the other side. Frowning, she flipped it over and saw a rough carving of a shape that—if she squinted carefully—appeared to be the symbol of the air nomads. She reached into the pouch once more, this time retrieving a stone with a very jagged representation of the fire nation flame.

"There's one for all four elements," Bumi explained. He rubbed his head sheepishly, "I don't know if you got that throwing technique down yet—the one you were talking about last time. But those are the types of rocks I like using best and... well, I figured you'd learn it faster if you had to worry about _keeping_ the rocks you used."

Well, this certainly was a far cry from the fancy jewelry or clothes that she'd probably be receiving later tonight...

...

* * *

_131 ASC_

Long after dinner was over, long after her father had finished ranting about the Avatar's idiotic son (even after she'd explained the exact context behind her words), the princess returned to her room. Almost as soon as she'd closed the door she let her shoulders slump, her temporary good mood from having pranked Bumi—even if he didn't know it yet—dissipating.

Moving over to her dresser, she opened one of the drawers and reached in. She brushed several sets of spare knives and shurikens to the side before she came across and pulled out a shabby, old leather pouch. The string had long been eaten through, so she simply flipped it over and dumped the four stones onto her bed.

She'd never mentioned this to him, but she had, in fact, used his gift for their intended purpose—practicing the wrist control necessary for flinging out sharp, pointy death. She had also lost them in the pond on more than one occasion, their crude carvings the only reason she knew she had retrieved them.

She didn't want to think about the amount of time she'd spent wading around the pond, nor the amount of tiny bites she received from the turtle-ducks when she'd accidentally walked into them.

Her mother had found the whole thing hilarious.

The princess picked up one of the stones, idly noting that the flame image had almost completely eroded away. She flicked it into the air, inspecting the water stone as she casually caught it with her other hand, then inspected the air and earth stones the same way.

She arranged the stones across her bedsheets, making sure they were face-up and oriented properly. Then she folded her arms and rested her head between them.

...and tried not to think about why she was so melancholic.

...


	7. Kidnap

**Kidnap **_— 135 ASC_

* * *

She straightened to her full height as best as she could. Her skin and clothing were streaked with dirt, her face scratched from the errant stones and shrapnel she didn't _quite_ avoid, and blood flowed freely from a shallow cut across her arm. In spite of her wounds, she stood proudly and defiantly before the lowlife thugs in front of her.

She spoke quietly, but fiercely. Carefully enunciating every syllable. "Have you ever seen a turtle-duck? Absolutely adorable creatures, but you always need to be careful around their young. Mess with the babies, and their mother will come at you viciously, beak and claw."

The man's grin faltered, "Uh... what?"

"Well, the Fire Lord is just like the turtle-ducks' mother... well aside from being, you know, _male_... and he'll sort of breathe fire at you instead of... biting you. But what I mean is that he can get pretty vicious when the people he cares about get hurt."

"And this is relevant because...?"

"Because, I'm his daughter."

**ooo**

Bumi had just finished packing for his first leave in months when he heard the news. His time in the United Forces so far had been everything he had imagined so far. From the hellish basic training with Fire Nation drill instructors, to the dull tedium of basic guard duty in remote villages, he'd even been proven completely correct when he'd assumed the United Forces to be an unorganized rabble.

The military force of the United Republic of Nations was still relatively new and untested in any major campaigns. With the recent uprisings and unrest that had been cropping up, they had been forced to forgo valuable training time in order to police the various towns and villages that made up the edge of Republic territory. Their lack of experience had been a direct cause for the Fire Nation stepping in and offering the expertise of their more experienced personnel.

The end result was what Bumi had predicted. Since the brand new military was very much a meritocracy, the more skilled soldiers got promoted faster. Unfortunately for Bumi, the only thing his hard-work had earned for him was the thankless task of being bumped around from understrength unit to understrength unit with the idea that his skills would offset their deficiencies.

On the bright side, he was becoming quite well known amongst the rank and file. The downside was that he was recognized by the command staff as one step above a gofer.

So, just before he'd been about to leave for a well-earned few days' rest at home, he'd been called in to the Commander's office where they had explained everything to him...

...about how he was to accompany the crew of a tiny frigate on a supply run.

**ooo**

An inexperienced, understaffed crew that mostly consisted of conscripting former fishermen, dressing them in uniforms, and calling them marines. A frigate, while still a respectably-sized vessel, sailing alone and without escorts in contested waters. A supply run involving basic, but still highly valuable cargo of foodstuffs and medicines.

Yeah, he really should have seen this coming.

As Bumi ducked yet another sword slash and shoulder charged the pirate he was currently engaged with, he made a mental note to turn down any further escort missions that involved him being the _only one_ on the _entire_ boat with any self-defense skills. Oh the rest of the crew still resisted, but they were like children playing games with wooden swords compared to the hardened pirate crew assaulting them.

He, on the other hand, was Bumi. He had trained under Councilman Sokka himself, he had the blood of the Water Tribe Warriors running through his veins (as well as the Air Nomads but they didn't really count for this situation), and he was really, _really _annoyed.

He was quite literally a one-man army, holding back the waves of attackers in the cramped hallways while the remaining crew in the command deck sent out a distress call. Best case scenario was that the pirates would give up and leave, allowing for reinforcements to arrive and complete the rest of the journey in peace.

Worst case was that he'd fail and everybody on the ship would be slaughtered.

The main problem with pirates, however, was that they just simply did not fight fair. They mobbed him as best as they could, even within the narrow confines of the ship's deck. They didn't fight like the bad guys in those plays either; they didn't just surround him and come one at a time, if any pirate found himself with an avenue of attack, they took it.

He fought hard. He fought skillfully. But to his extreme mortification, it was a bloody iguana-parrot that took him down, flying directly onto his face and making him trip in surprise as it tried to bite his nose off.

**ooo**

Much to his relief, he woke up. Even better, he was able to determine the entire crew had survived the encounter. The bad news was that he'd discovered this for the simple reason that every single one of them had been chained together in some dusty old building, guarded by a pair of mean-looking guys with swords.

Eh, two out of three wasn't so bad.

He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been out of it for, but from some of the comments tossed around he had to figure at most two or three days. That might have been why he was feeling a bit loopy. He couldn't quite recall the blow that had actually knocked him unconscious, but from the lump on his head he was willing to bet he had a minor concussion. Fun!

They were brought water and stale food twice a day, which was good because it implied their captors wanted them alive. Their reasoning was less obvious, although the assumption was they were being ransomed either for money, or for additional supplies. The ranking officer amongst the sailors pressed on that fact to keep morale up. Sure they were prisoners, but there was a better-than-even chance they'd all live to return to their homes. That is, unless one of them did something stupid.

**ooo**

One of the sailors did something stupid. Either the stress or the malnutrition had gotten to him, Bumi wasn't sure, but the man had leapt to his feet and headbutted the guard who gave them their food. Unfortunately the attack did nothing but irritate his victim, and the poor soul was dragged off, never to be seen again.

Oh and they didn't get any food at all that day. Or the next. That really sucked.

**ooo**

He'd lost count of the days, but he was pretty sure it hadn't been more than a week since they'd been captured.

The night had erupted into cries of battle and alarms. By the time he'd managed to wake up, he had a killer headache that the lights strobing outside did nothing to help. Around the time he realized the flickering lights were firebenders, the room suddenly flared into brightness as their guards reacted to an intruder sneaking in through the window.

Wincing in pain at the sudden light, Bumi forced his eyes back open, then blinked as he saw who was facing off the pair of burly men guarding their cell.

He rubbed his eyes, but the hallucination didn't go away. He cursed the injury that had clearly affected his brain more than he thought, because he could have sworn he was looking at the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, wearing a loose-fitting bodysuit in light-leeching black, standing alone against two guys twice her size. Each.

"... he can get pretty vicious when the people he cares about get hurt."

And she sounded like she was spouting off a ridiculous anecdote about... turtle-ducks?"

"And this is relevant because...?"

"Because, I'm his daughter... and I can get pretty vicious myself."

And then she set them on fire. And stabbed them. With daggers that were on fire. The whole thing looked to be really painful.

_Oh, maybe that _is _her,_ Bumi thought, just before he passed out again.

**ooo**

When he came to, his head was resting on something relatively soft and something was tickling the bump on his head.

"Ow." Bumi cracked an eye open and stared directly into the last person he ever expected to see in a place like this. "Hi there. You look familiar. Do I know you?" He let a goofy smile grow on his face as her face screwed up in horror. Then he yelped as someone punched him in the gut.

"You're lucky she thinks you're concussed. Whereas I know you're just an idiot."

He glanced to the side, taking extra care not to move his head. "How's it going, Sis?"

"I've been better," Kya replied. She pulled her hands away from his head, flicking away a few tainted drops of water before she drew the rest back into her waterskin pouch. She ignored his new side wound. "You should be fine for now. You need food and rest more than any actual healing at this point. I'll going to go check on the rest of the crewmen now." She winked at him as she rose to her feet. "Don't get too comfortable now."

Bumi made a face at her as she left, then schooled himself as he glanced back to the person sitting over him. And under him. "She is right," he commented. "This _is_ rather comfy."

The princess glared at him, but the effect was reduced significantly by the blush on her cheeks and her reddened eyes. "I could just let you eat the dirt," she reminded him. Despite her threat, she made no motions to remove him from her lap. Instead, she ran a hand through his hair, carefully avoiding the large bump on his head. "I think I'm well within my rights to say, 'I told you so'."

"Yes, well, this didn't exactly go the way I had imagined it would either." He sighed dramatically.

"Were you hoping to stage a daring escape, plowing through an entire town that had been taken over as a pirate base, and standing victorious over the bodies of your enemies?"

"Actually, I was thinking _you_ would be the one kidnapped, and _I_ would be the one to charge in valiantly to your rescue. And _my_ pre-buttkicking speech would have been a lot more _awesome_."

"What was wrong with my speech?"

"Your dad is a turtle-duck?"

"They are _very_ nasty creatures when provoked, I'm sure you know. And if not, I'm sure Father would be happy to prove me right."

"What, is he going to throw me into your pond?"

"No, it's just because he's very protective of his darling daughter. Especially against nasty little peasant boys."

"...uh..."

She suddenly gave him a small shove, rolling him face-down into the ground as she got to her feet. "Now then, I think you've recovered enough. Your father was nice enough to give most of our strike force a ride, but I think he'll be occupied with transporting the wounded." She reached down and hauled him up with surprising strength. "We'll be taking the long way back, if you don't mind." Throwing his arm across her shoulders, the two made their way towards the harbor where a pair of United Forces troop carriers were docked.

"Ah, wait!" he blinked and patted himself down. "We can't go yet, I need to find Swordy."

She froze in midstep. "What."

"I can't leave without him!" He looked around frantically, as if it would be in plain sight along the roads or alleyways.

She pinched her nose with her free hand and sighed, then set her feet and began _dragging_ him to the boats. "The soldiers are confiscating all the weapons in the village. I'm sure they'll find your stupid sword somewhere and you can get it back later. You need to rest!"

"I think the pirates took the little knife you gave me too."

"You lost my dagger?!"

...

* * *

_(a/n)—the zuko-is-a-turtle-duck idea i got from a random tumblr post. i wonder if anybody fell for the in-media-res intro and thought the princess was the kidnapping victim._

_sometimes i like to think i'm good at subtle. sometimes i'm really, really, not. *shrug*  
_

_R/R please  
_


	8. Sleepover

**Sleepover **_— 135 ASC_

* * *

Bumi gasped as he dragged himself the final few feet to his room on Air Temple Island. Once he was through the doorway he keeled over, clutching at his chest and rolling over to his back with a theatrical "Bleeeeeegh."

She frowned from her position several paces behind him. "You shouldn't joke about that."

"Home sweet home. _Spirits_, I had almost forgotten how much I hate summers here."

"Wimp." She rolled her eyes and stepped over his prone body to let herself in. "This would be considered a refreshing spring breeze back home."

He levered himself back to his feet and found the princess examining the random trinkets and wall scrolls he used to decorate his childhood bedroom. "Yeah, but you don't even see snow during Fire Nation winters."

"The _best _kind," she replied. "Cold _and _wet all rolled into one? I'll pass, thank you very much." She watched him walk over to the window and fiddle with an odd contraption that looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd seen something like it. "What's that?"

"This?" He poked at the wireframe cage to point at a multi-bladed disc inside. "This is an example of Republic City's ingenuity at its finest. Take a much lighter version of a ship's propeller, hook it up to a small engine, and bam! Instant airflow, no airbenders required!"

She looked at it dubiously. "Uh huh..." She traced a thick cable running from the motor to the wall. "Is this the 'electricity' I've been hearing about?"

"Yeah. It's still in the experimental stages, though, especially since they're still trying to find and train firebenders capable of bending lightning. So the power plant can't possibly provide for the whole city yet; but, since we're in the home of the Avatar, we're one of the lucky few who get to test it out."

"And?"

"It works... sometimes." She watched with patient humor as Bumi slammed his fist against the casing of his 'fan', only to jump back with a curse as sparks flew from where the cable met the machine. He leaned forward with a relieved sigh. "That's the stuff."

She raised an eyebrow in spite of herself, "I'm impressed." Bumi set up a second fan beside the first, then backed away and waved her to his former spot. She took several steps forward and ducked her head to feel the airstream for herself.

Bumi froze in place as the artificial wind picked up her hair and revealed the nape of her neck. "_Hmmm~_ I don't mind the heat," she said, "but I suppose I could get used to this." He swallowed a lump in his throat as she let out a pleased moan. He flinched when she suddenly straightened and glanced over her shoulder, hoping she hadn't caught him staring.

Her eyes narrowed as she caught his movement... and came to the wrong conclusion. "You're still injured, aren't you? What was I thinking? You should be in bed!" she said as grabbed his shoulders and turned him around.

Bumi rolled his eyes. "It's nothing, Princess, I'm fine."

She wouldn't have any of it. "Your sister told you to rest! You need to heal!" She gave him a none-too-gentle shove onto his bed before she stepped towards the door. "And don't even think about reporting for duty in the next few days. You're on leave. You've _earned_ your leave."

"Princess..."

"And if your commanding officers want to complain they can take it up with me!"

_"Princess."_

She paused at the doorway, her hand held stiffly against the frame. Bumi quietly slid off the bed and walked up until he was behind her. He raised a hand to her shoulders, feeling them trembling slightly. Then suddenly they were ripped from his grasp as she spun in place and he was knocked back onto his heels as she hid her face in his chest.

He blinked in surprise as he stared down at her, his hands held carefully away from her body and over his head. "You're angry at me again," he concluded, closing his eyes in resignation. He waited for the slap, or the stab, or whatever the coming punishment from her would be this time.

"You're an idiot." He cautiously cracked an eye open at her words. "I'm worried about you," she mumbled against his shirt.

He blinked again. "Didn't we go over this already? I got the good luck charm, I promised not to die... hey! I'm not dead! We're good, right?"

_There's_ the slap.

He ignored the throbbing in his cheek to look down and find her glaring back up at him. Her face was red, her eyes glittered with unspent tears, and she had the most _adorable_-looking pout on her face. He swallowed nervously.

"Bumi," she said hoarsely, "you're one of the noblest, bravest, most skilled warriors I've ever seen. You act with honor and you follow your principles."

She punched his chest weakly, repeatedly. "But. You are. The. Most. _Idiotic._ Boy. I. Have. Ever. Met!"

Not knowing what else to do, he lowered his hands, then carefully wrapped them around her shoulders. One of her arms snaked around his own torso while the other rested over his heart, as if to make sure it was still beating.

He rested his chin over her head, staring blankly at the far wall. "Sorry," he murmured. The two remained in their embrace for several moments.

"When I heard your ship went missing," she said into his shirt. "I was so angry. I was angry at your superiors for putting you in that position. I was angry at you for letting yourself get into that situation." Her hand tightened against his back. "And I was so afraid. I hadn't felt like that since my father was attacked back home, back when I was a child."

She withdrew slightly to raise her head and glare at him again. "Do you know how confusing that must have been? I was scared for you in the same way I was scared for him! I found myself packing clothing, packing weapons, almost before the news even had time to circulate.  
"Do you know what you put me through?"

Bumi stared down at her with wide eyes. Part of him was surprised at the loss of her composure. Part of him was touched at her concern. Part of him was leaping and screaming, _WOOHOO! I am the MAN!_, wanting to take advantage of her sudden vulnerability and toss her down onto the bed.

Still, a part of him was cautious. While growing up they'd shared a mutually-antagonistic-yet-friendly rivalry with each other, but in all the years he'd known her, he'd never seen her flip her moods to this degree._  
_

He settled for tightening his grip around her shoulders. "I... think I might have an idea," he said. He patted her back reassuringly. "But I'm right here, Princess. I'm not going anywhere."

There might have been a choked off sob from her, or she could have suffered a sudden case of the hiccups.

He sighed. Of course. It had been a long day after a trying week. He had just recently healed from a blow to the head and apparently she'd been having a panic attack the whole time. Neither of them were probably thinking straight...

He gave her a quick peck on the crown of her head and released her, stepping back slightly. "But you're right, I should—we _both_ should get some rest. We can... figure things out tomorrow." His inner voice screamed in dismay, but he didn't let that show on his face. He stepped past her, reaching for her elbow with the intent to escort her back to the guest quarters.

The moment he touched her, however, there was a flash of motion and a strong tug on his arm, spinning him back around to face her directly. She glared at him with a fierce expression even as tears fell freely from her eyes and a slim hand reached up to trace along his cheek.

"I'm going to be the Fire Lord," she said as her hand fell to his collar. "We're figuring this out _now." _Her fingers tightened into a firm grip and she yanked his head down to meet her lips with his own.

_Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~_

They pulled apart just as quickly as a loud noise cut through the room, evaporating the tension in a heartbeat.

"What is that?!" She looked around with wide eyes until her gaze fell upon the window.

Bumi saw the same thing she did and groaned, slapping his hand against his forehead. "It's just the fans. They make that noise sometimes when it gets too hot in here."

**ooo**

It started with a light chuckle, then degenerated into near-hysterical laughter as the two of them released the tension they had been building up.

"So, how long are you here for anyhow?" Bumi asked casually.

She was sitting on his bed, no longer having the strength to continue standing. "I told my parents I wouldn't be returning until I knew you were safe," she said, fiddling with a small dart she'd pulled out of nowhere." She shook her head. "I was half out of my mind, I'm almost afraid to my father after the way I acted. And... I almost did something I might have regretted."

Bumi frowned as he dropped into a seat beside her. "What do you mean?"

Her face flushed and she clapped her hands over her mouth in mortification. "I'm sorry, Bumi, I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have forced myself like that onto you. I mean, we grew up together and we're just friends and it's just that I can't help but worrying about you and getting upset and—" her rambling broke off as Bumi broke out into laughter.

Bumi wiped a tear from his eye, still laughing lightly as he leaned over her and wrapped her in a hug. "Don't be sorry. You had every right to be upset. We _are _friends, and I _am_ an idiot."

She smiled weakly, but it was a sort of broken smile as she ducked her head. Then he tightened his grip and she made a small noise of surprise. She looked back into his face and blushed at the expression she saw there.

"I'm an idiot for not noticing you actually felt the same way that I felt about you," he said quietly. "But, I guess that makes me _your_ idiot."

This time he was the one to lean down and place a tender kiss on her lips. As he withdrew and stared into widened eyes, he cracked a smile and deliberately repeated her words from earlier. "Have we figured things out between us yet, Princess?"

She nodded twice, rapidly, tears streaming from her eyes. Then tackled him to the bed.

**ooo**

Tenzin was practicing his circle-walking on the narrow cliffs below the temple when he heard a strange noise. Pausing in his exercise he bent the air slightly in an attempt to clear up whatever he was hearing.

_squeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE__**EEEEEEEEEE**__—_***CRASH***

The young airbender leaned over the edge of the cliff and stared in confusion at the pair of sparking fans battered against the rocks. It was hard to tell from this distance, but the metal looked slightly... charred.

...

* * *

_(a/n)—remember folks, always keep wd40 (and fire) around when the fangrills start squealing._

_**edit: **i hope this didn't come out sounding forced. as both an author and a reader i mostly like the build up of a relationship more than the actual consummation of one so i'm afraid the whole 'yay we're together' moment came out... awkward. i hope it didn't. *shrug*  
_

_some of you miiight notice i have a tendancy to ninja edit. this revised author's notes shows you i just finished one.  
_

_my writing process basically has me sit down for an hour or two and hammer out the first thing that comes into my head. i have no beta, so my editing process basically consists of me simply rereading what i've written before and making minor tweaks to phrases or dialogue, although i like to think i catch most obvious spelling/grammar errors before the story is even posted. i'm not saying you should be mashing the refresh button, but some of you may want to go back and reread everything after this story is done.  
_

_R/R  
_


	9. Scalpel

**Scalpel **_— 128 ASC_

* * *

"Mother, what's the point in carrying multiple types of weapons? Why not just use the best one?"

"The short answer? Different weapons are useful for different situations."

"...What's the long answer?"

...

"Uncle Sokka, why did you help organize a police force for the United Republic when you're also planning to build up an army?"

"Think of it this way, Bumi. If your dad were to see a pickpocket stealing from an innocent person, would you want him to use the Avatar State to bring the thief down?"

"That would be totally _awesome._"

"...Let me try a different example..."

...

"...and darts are also good for piercing but their main point is that they're light and easily mass-produced so you can carry tons of them. Shurikens are a bit heavier and since they have multiple blades, you can throw them farther without having to worry about them not being edge-on when they finally hit your target. Now, a _sai _is really remarkable in that—"

"Um... Mother?"

"Yes?"

"Too long."

...

"Okay, there are things that you can do with an army. Big things, like beating up other armies or laying siege to cities."

"Which sounds pretty cool."

"Right, but if you put them _in_ a city and tell them to defend it, it doesn't work out so well. They're used to using a certain level of force to bring down their enemies, and that level of power tends to be a bit... messy."

...

Mai held up a small blade mounted at the end of a relatively long handle. The whole thing was roughly the size of a quill. "This is a scalpel." In her other hand she displayed a much larger blade. "This is a kukri."

"I'm not even going to ask where you were carrying that. Even though I really, really want to."

Without dropping the scalpel or the kukri, the Fire Lady produced a sheet of parchment from... somewhere and held it between her hands, the blades of both weapons sticking in the air behind it. "Now if I asked you to cut out a shape from this, which weapon would you want to use?"

...

Bumi frowned. "So, you're saying that using the army would actually make keeping the peace _harder?_"

Sokka nodded. "Right. If the people who are supposed to protect you keep blowing everything up when they do so, it will make more people mad in the long run. So the answer is to use 'as much force as necessary'. In this case, Toph's Metalbending Police force can use their bending abilities with a bit more finesse than almost every other earth- or firebender that I know."

"But metalbending by itself isn't quite as strong as the other disciplines. Not to belittle Auntie's accomplishments, but she's a _lot_ more impressive when she earthbends."

...

"It's true, I'll never be able to get the same sort of force from this scalpel that I would from most of my other weapons. But, see the handle? That makes it easier for me to change my grip, which vastly increases the ways I can hold it, and therefore how I can use it."

The princess watched her mother spin the tool across her fingers for a moment before making a series of quick slashes against the parchment. Bits of paper fell to the ground until finally Mai was holding up a cutout of three interlocking stick figures holding hands.

"For the record, I _could _do the same thing with the kukri, but it'd take me a bit more time and a _lot_ more concentration. It's a heavier weapon and there's not as many ways to hold it properly, so I'd need to be more careful when using it in a manner it's not really made for."

...

"You mean it's more efficient."

"Yeah, let the army forces do what they were meant to do; and we'll have our police forces do what they were meant to do. It's kind of like... how Ba Sing Se had it's military for the outer wall defense, but the Dai Li for taking care of the city itself."

"Um, weren't the Dai Li the _bad guys_ in the stories Mom told us?"

"...They got better."

...

"Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, Mother. Thank you for explaining that to me. I'll return to my practice then."

Mai said nothing as her daughter retrieved her own weapons and made her way to the target range she'd set up in the garden. She nodded approvingly as the girl feet slid out to give her secure footing—a stable launching platform was required in order to hit a target after all. Mai's definition of 'stable' was simply broader than most people's.

Just as her student's arm drew back for her first throw, Mai casually cleared her throat. "By the way, what's this I hear about you and the Avatar's son?"

_Swish_. The knife flew wide of the target as the girl nearly tripped over her feet.

...

The two stopped in their tracks as a uniformed officer dropped to the ground in front of them. "Councilman," the man said as he stowed his cables back into his hip pouch. "Chief Beifong and the Avatar have reported success in their mission. Your presence is requested at the Council Room as soon as possible."

Sokka sighed. "I hear you. I assume the other members of the council are being informed?" He waited for the affirmative nod. "Tell them I'll be over shortly."

He turned towards Bumi. "If you want, you can come along to watch the trial. But it's probably going to be a lot of boring stuff, so you'll probably want to call my sister and have her pick you up with Appa."

Bumi shrugged. "It doesn't really matter much to me. Maybe I'll stick around at Lin's place until you guys are all done."

His uncle smiled. "Well, if nothing else, this ought to be a good example of how a police force was able to handle a dangerous criminal without having to tear up half the city."

...

* * *

_(a/n)—i rewrote this twice. i started with this long scene setting with bumi, scrapped it for a long scene setting with the princess, then scrapped that too and just went went with this._

_i'll call this an experiment in a dialogue-driven...uh...thing. yeah. this was an experiment._

_*nod nod*  
_


	10. Holidays

**Holidays - **_122 ASC_

* * *

She stood there, staring into the soggy mess that was her room and the crumpled-looking package resting on her floor in particular. She held position by the door, hand resting on the frame for several moments before she took a careful step backwards. The movement let her escape the growing puddle scant _minutes_ before it could grow in size to lap at her shoes.

"Explain, please."

Her words were even, inflectionless. Her personal tutor would be pleased at the civility expressed in her tone. Somehow this did not keep the masked and armored Palace Guard from cowering before the preteen girl.

"It arrived this morning addressed to you, Your Highness," the guard answered promptly. "Sender unknown, but the Fire Lord specifically gave orders to allow delivery to your quarters."

"Father did?" she commented dubiously. She took another careful step, this time towards the mysterious item. "Did he say anything else?"

"Nothing, Your Highness."

Though his words were truthful, the guard wisely refrained from mentioning how the Fire Lord's face had been twisted into an expression somewhere between recognition, resignation, and amusement.

The Princess cautiously stepped her way over to the box in the middle of her floor, wincing at the wet noises her slippers made as she moved along the carpet. Her sharp eyes picked out the rough hide wrapped haphazardly around it, held in place with a thick rope tied into a weak-looking knot at the top.

There was a note slipped under the rope and she gingerly lifted it to a level where she could read it. It was barely legible, the writing a messy scrawl that ran from one edge to the other of the parchment - the last few words rotating to follow the side rather than creating a new line. As the guard had implied, it was unsigned, yet that did nothing to hide the identity of the mysterious sender.

_Princess_

_Visiting my gramps for the holidays and it's really dark here, which somehow reminded me of you. Not like you're a dark person I mean, but like the dark reminded me that Fire Nation is always about lights or something. _

_Because you have fire._

_...light?_

_Anyhow I remember hearing that you never have snow at the palace and that just didn't seem right. So I decided to show you just what you were missing. So here's a little gift from me to you, a little piece of home!_

Fighting the urge to pinch her nose, a habit she'd grown into after watching her father during his meetings, the Princess reached down and gave the rope a sharp tug, loosening the knot and allowing the hide wrapping to fall away.

Water erupted from the package, splashing all across the floor as the hide released the contents. A small box, a _wooden crate_ of all things, floated out and gently bumped against her ankles while she stood there in disbelief. Another note had been tied to the crate and she leaned down to read it.

_Enjoy genuine South Pole snow! Happy solstice!_

She crumpled the note in her fist as the small pool her room became started steaming.

* * *

_(a/n) - tbh i'd half dropped this story since i sorta lost my prompts but i thought of this while spending xmas with my brother's family and it would not leave me alone. im also writing this from my phone so sorry if the formatting is weird or if there are alot more spelling/grammar errors than usual._

_happy holidays! and enjoy your snow if you have it!_


End file.
